"No deal is imminent," one official was quoted as saying. "I’m not sure it ever gets done."
According to the report, the sides are "in a wait-and-see mode" until after the upcoming US presidential election.
The newspaper also said that, firstly, the negotiators have been unable to agree on the ratio of Palestinian prisoners that Israel will have to release to have one Israel hostage freed by Hamas. Secondly, the recent series of gadget explosions in Lebanon and subsequent Israeli air strikes have made an all-out war in the Middle East more likely and, therefore, made diplomatic contacts with HAMAS more difficult.
Another obstacle is the Palestinian movement’s "intrasingence," the paper’s sources say. According to WSJ sources, HAMAS makes demands and then refuses to say "yes" after the US and Israel accept them. As a result, negotiators increasingly feel that the movement has no serious plans of concluding an agreement.
The newspaper emphasizes that the failure could harm Biden’s presidential legacy, so the ceasefire deal still remains a cornerstone in his administration’s Middle East policies. Washington believes that it would calm tensions in the region and pave the way to establish formal diplomatic relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
AzVision.az
